A Pirate and a Servant
by Dearing
Summary: An abstract from my upcoming fic, Lengends of Arcadian Skies, to see what people think of it. a conversation between Aika and an OC. WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE GAME AND TALES OF THE VALUAN NASR WAR! R&R Please NO FLAMES


This is an Abstract frommy upcoming fic, Legends of Arcadian Skies. I'm just posting it to see what peoples reactions are to another version of the Skies of arcadia story. Don't flame please, just tell me what you think. It takes place just after the destruction of Nasrad, and is a conversation between Aika, and my own character, Carlos Merdian.

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"Bah, I can't believe we're back in Valua," Aika muttered as she stared gloomily out of the barred window into the jet black sky beyond, her arms dangling out of the open space.

She had been in this stinking cell ever since they had landed, separated from Fina and the boys on the orders of Admiral Ramirez Silvairian. She just felt so low she was surprised she hadn't cried yet.

"No matter how bleak our lives seem now," a voice said calmly from behind her, "We must continue looking for Nuevo Esperanza."

Aika glanced behind her but didn't have to look for long, for she knew who it was.

There he stood, 'Lord' Carlos Meridian, the man who had betrayed them.

"What do you want?" she spat, not looking directly at the servant.

Carlos said nothing for a moment. He just stood where he was, on the opposite side of the bars, an armoured guard standing to attention nearby.

"Do I need a reason to visit you?" he asked.

Aika muffled a chuckle, "If you weren't on the other side of this cell and I had a weapon I'd run you through. I think that merits you leaving me alone don't you?"

Carlos didn't reply, he just continued to stare at the red-head in front of him.

Finally he turned to the guard.

"Leave us," He said calmly, "And give me the keys."

The guard hesitated, "What are you planning to do my lord?"

"I don't have to tell you," Carlos's voice became icy, "Now give me the keys or I shall throw you in that cell with her."

The guard swallowed thickly, before handing him the keys and saluting, "YES, LORD MERIDIAN!"

Carlos waited for a moment until the guard was out of site, before unlocking the door and stepping through.

At the sound of the door creaking open, Aika turned around in surprise, watching as the Valuan approached her.

"W…what are you doing?" she stuttered, feeling uneasy under Carlos's scrutinising gaze.

Carlos said nothing, he just stopped in the middle of the cell, before unsheathing his Serpent Strike.

Aika gasped, knowing what was coming. Quickly she shielded herself with her arms, preparing herself for the first blow.

But the blow never came.

She waited, and waited, but nothing came. After a minute, she finally opened her eye.

What she saw caught her off guard.

Carlos stood directly in front of her, his sword held out to her, its tip resting on his chest, its hilt held out towards her.

Okay, maybe she didn't know what she was coming.

"Here," Carlos said emotionlessly, "You said if we weren't on opposite sides of the bars, and you had a weapon, you would run me through. I'm in the cell; you have a weapon, so run me through."

Aika's eyes bulged. "Are you crazy?" She said in frantic whisper, "I can't kill you! Your almost a part of the Royal Family, I'd hang for it!"

Carlos smirked, "At noon tomorrow, your going to be executed in Lower City anyway. You've got nothing to loose, you might as well have a piece of satisfaction before your head rolls."  
Aika looked up into his blue orbs, "But Why?"

Carlos's face became grave, "Because I'm the reason you and your friends are here. I'm the reason Nasrad now lies in ruin, I'm the reason Belleza Rogriguez is an admiral in the Valuan Fleet."  
Aika looked up at with wonder, as Carlos cast his eyes downward.

"I have nothing left to live for," he sighed, "I've made so many mistakes in my life. I have nothing left to live for."

Aika said nothing. She just stared at Serpent Strike. Suddenly, she screwed up her face in disgust before slapping the sword out of Carlos's hand, sending it clattering to the floor.

Carlos blinked in surprise, "What? Do you want to use a pistol?"

"Have you been hit with a Moonstone or something?" Aika cried, grabbing the servant by the tie and pulling him down to her level, "You have everything to live for! You r the Personal Servant of the Royal Family of Valua for the crying out loud! How many people can say that they're one of the most distinguished servants in all Valua? I mean sure the Empress is a fat old evil crow of a woman, but I…I…what are you staring at?"

While she had been ranting, Carlos had been staring unblinkingly at her. He just stared, his eyes soft, a slight smile twitching at the corner of his lips.

"I just realised," he said in a soft voice, "You have very…fine eyes."  
Aika blinked before turning away and going as red as her hair.

"Um…thank you?" she paused uncertainty, while Carlos stood up straight and smoothed down his tie and shirt.

"Your welcome," he said with a smile as he looked out of the barred window, "I also come with a message form Fina."  
Aika perked up, her interest peaked, "Oh, what is it?"

Carlos smiled as he turned back to look at her, "Just two words: Faith, Manages."

A look of amusement crossed Aika's features, trust Fina to say something like that.

An uneasy silence crossed the room afterwards. Carlos stood by the window, while Aika stood by the cell door, the dark haired servant's compliment still ringing around in her head. Now that she looked at him as something besides the enemy, he did seem kinda cute. He wasn't too tall, nor was he two short. His black and gold uniform showed that he wasn't exactly a muscle bound hulk, but he wasn't a lanky geeky looking guy either, but it was his face she like the most.

His face was pale and gentle looking, and his crystal blue eyes were ones Aika found she could loose herself in.

Suddenly she shook her head. She couldn't think thoughts like that! The guy was Valuan! And a top servant to the Empress no less, he wouldn't be interested in a scruffy redhead like her!

She sighed mentally to herself, before trying to focus on something besides Carlos's face, her eyes eventually resting on his gloved hand.

As she stared at it, she realised Carlos actually only wore on his right hand. It was a thick black glove that went up to just above the cuff.

Before she could stop herself, she spoke her mind, "Why do you wear one glove?"

Almost immediately she slapped her hand to her mouth as Carlos glanced behind him, an uneasy look on his soft features.

"I um…" he looked down at his clenched gloved hand uneasily, "You…you don't really want to know," he said at last.

"Why? Aika took a step forward towards him, concern spilling over her face, "Is something wrong with your hand?"

Carlos looked uncomfortable as he slowly retrieved his sword from the floor and sheathed it, "Um…kinda."

Aika sighed again as she took another step closer, "You don't have to tell me if it's personal."

Carlos paused and held up his hand, as if to examine it. Aika looked at it to, before looking up at Carlos, and realising just how close they were to each other.

With a slight hesitation, Carlos gently tugged at the glove, letting the leather object come away, revealing his hand.

What Aika saw, almost made her cry out in surprise.

It looked like his other hand, it had the same shape and structure, but it was iron grey in colour. Running down his arm from under his jacket were four burning white lines; one on the top, one on the bottom, and two on either side.

The line on the top and bottom of the hand seemed to stretch right to the centre, before segmenting and flowing up the three middle fingers, while the two lines on the right and left went up over the top of his thumb and little finger, before going over and meeting the lower line in the middle of his palm.

"Wh…what happened to your hand?" she whispered, delicately reaching out to touch the strange object. It felt smooth and metallic as she felt it.

"My arm actually," Carlos said grimly, "Well, up to my elbow anyway. You see, during the Valuan-Nasr war, the Valuan Empire badly need soldiers and sailors to fight the war. With my parents dead, and Belleza Rogriguez as my only friend on the streets of Lower City, we both decided to join the Valuan Navy, for the simple fact, we had no food, no money, in fact nothing except each other. Belleza was a little hesitates at first, but I eventually persuaded her, saying it was what her father would have wanted, and it would make me happy if she did.

So we joined, together, she at the age of sixteen, and me at only the age of eleven. We did everything together. We trained together, ate together, and I seemed to remember a pool going round as to how long it would be until we slept together," Carlos screwed up his face in disgust, "After the Academy we had to split up, I went to be stationed at Esperanza, while she was assigned to a patrol ship near the Valuan-Nasr border. Surprisingly, I quickly rose through the ranks, to the point where I reached the rank of Commander at just the age of sixteen. It was at that time I was reassigned to the new Renown class ship, the Lynx, as her new First Officer, by the request of newly promoted Captain Belleza Rogriguez. We served together as equals, we talked as friends, whether it was on duty or off, and we treated our crew the same way. It could have gone on forever, but unfortunately, it was not to last.

It was the dieing days of the Valuan-Nasr War. The Nasrean Government in full retreat after their failed bombardment of the Grand Fortress, The Empress herself had all available ships make best speed for Nasr. We were at the head of the Fleet, ready for the final takeover of Nasrad.

The Battle was fierce. Neither side seemed to be winning. We had an advantage with our metal ships, but they had the advantage of the large city guns, which were both long range and had a much heavier firepower.

Just as the battle seemed to be tipping our favour, something happened.

A stray shell from on of Nasrad's guns blasted the Lynx's starboard engine forcing Belleza to commence and emergency landing. Unfortunately, not only was landing almost impossible, the only land we were close to was the city.

Before we could find a more suitable place to land, the Port engine, having given in to the strain of holding the immense vessel in the air, suddenly died, forcing the ship to plummet towards the city below.

The next few minutes were a blur. The only thing I remember is pulling Belleza out of the way before the roof collapsed, only to be hit over the head by a falling support, followed by numbness."

Carlos smiled slightly, "Belleza was at my side when I came too a few minutes later. I'll always remember her face. It was stained with tears, creating little paths through the grime that stained her face. She held my left hand, and kept saying it was all going to be alright, that if I dared die on her I'd be demoted all the way down to loo scrubber."

Carlos chuckled, "Luckily, I survived," His face turned grave, "Unfortunately, that couldn't be said for the thousands that died when the Lynx crashed.

We ploughed right through the centre of the city, crashing through walls like they were paper. It was only when we hit the palace did we stop.

It is believed, and indeed true, that this act of horror ended the fighting above the city, and indeed the war itself.

The Nasr Kingdom and the Valuan Empire were mortified at this tragedy, the Nasreans more so because it was their cannons that brought the Lynx down."

Aika had said nothing as he had spoken. She just watched in wonder at him as he donned his glove.

"Without my right arm, I was retired from the navy. Belleza, who couldn't see me on the streets of Lower City once more, insured I was given a title as well as the position of Servant to the Royal family, which is what I've been doing ever since."

"And what about the arm?"

Carlos paused as he finished securing his glove.

"I have no idea," he said at last, "When I first arrived at my house in Upper City, I was given a parcel wrapped in a silvery cloth and ribbon. Inside was this arm, and it fit like a glove, pun not intended. Afraid of what the Royal Family would think of my hand, I wear this glove so they do not see it, going under the guise that it is an artificial arm, and is just to hide the wires and such."

Aika looked at him sadly, before slowly and tenderly reaching out ant clasping Carlos's real hand in her own.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I'm sorry that you lost your hand."

Carlos half shrugged, feeling slightly nervous at how close the Air pirate was, "It was two three years ago now. I don't mind it anymore I…"

He was cut short however, when Aika did something very unexpected. She suddenly drew herself close to Carlos, pillowing her head against the servant's surprised chest.

"Can…can I admit something to you?" she asked in a small voice that would have suited Fina more, "I feel like I could tell you anything and you wouldn't tell a soul."

"Well I um…" Carlos began to stutter his words, surprised that this was the same woman that wanted to run him through when he had first got here.

"I'm scared," she whispered, "I've never felt like this before. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. I don't want to die, I don't want anyone to die. I'm scared Carlos, I'm scared,"

"It's alright," he whispered back, slowly enveloping her in his embrace, "It's going to be okay. I won't let them hurt you. Even if I lose my title, I promise, on my sword, and on my life, I will not let them hurt you."

She looked up into his sky blue eyes, tears running their course down her cheeks.

"Promise me something else?" she asked, "Promise you won't tell Vyse that I cried?"

Carlos laughed, "I promise," he said quietly.

Aika smiled slightly, before snuggling up to him again.

Just as she was getting comfortable, a loud manly voice echoed through the cell.

"Is this the cell where they're keeping the Red-head?" It asked.

"Yes sir," Came the reply, "but Lord Meridian is already in there and doesn't want to be disturbed."

Carlos gritted his teeth as he slowly detached the confused Aika from his grasp.

"Ah, blast it!" he cursed, "Vigoro!"

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Did you like it? Hate it? I MUST KNOW! I'm not actually sure if i should actually publish LoAS, which is why i put this abstract up. please R&R, I'm begging you i must know what people think.

Thanks

Dearing


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